Government law enforcement officials announced Thursday that more than 90 people, including a Tigard businessman, were arrested in the nation's first coast-to-coast take-down of the designer drug industry.

Federal agents taking part in the Drug Enforcement Administration's "Operation Log Jam" targeted retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers, in more than 100 cities. They seized $36 million in cash, 4.8 million packets of synthetic cannabinoids (sold as "spice" and "K2" incense) and supplies to produce 13.6 million more, the DEA reported.

Agents also bagged and tagged 167,000 packets of synthetic cathinones (sold as bath salts, or plant food), which deliver users mind-altering effects similar to such drugs as methamphetamine, LSD, cocaine and ecstasy. They also seized materials to produce another 392,000 packets of cathinones, according to the DEA.

Joshua P. Becker, a 32-year-old Tigard resident who operated a warehouse in Vancouver was arrested during the nationwide sweep on Wednesday. A federal indictment handed up in Idaho accuses Becker and four associates of conspiring to distribute designer drugs.

Government prosecutors describe the drugs, typically sold online or in
head shops, as controlled substance "analogues," thus the "Operation Log Jam" nickname.

U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, applauded the DEA raids. He sponsored recently enacted legislation to ban chemicals used to make K2 and "spice." The law was named for David Rozga, a teenage Iowan who committed suicide after trying the synthetic drug.

"These drugs are poison," Grassley said in a news release. "It's a testament to the cynicism and greed of manufacturers, importers and distributors that these products were ever put on store shelves."